SAVARI – an illustrated journey through Iran & India

SAVARI is a collection of drawings from my sketchbook from five months of Iran & India.

It‘s a travelogue full of drawings, sketches, poems and notes, capturing my day-to-day adventures in a strange world, telling stories about operated noses in Iran, baking cakes in Shiraz, harvesting pomegranates in Iranian villages, encounters with strangers in fairytale-like mosques and drinking whiskey in the Indian jungle.

Half imaginary, half real, it‘s a many-layered documentation of a personal story in the form of a journey. At the same time, it tells about the political circumstances and the cultural environment in which the journey takes place, always oscillating between reality and fantasy.

The story behind SAVARI:

In October 2014, I traveled through Iran for one month with the mission to fill up my sketchbook with impressions and stories that would capture the spirit of a mysterious and magical country.

I wanted to seek inspiration in its fascinating culture that goes back thousands of years, and at the same time explore a country that nowadays is regarded with much controversy and prejudice.

It turned out to be the most ambivalent journey I had ever taken: As a woman who was traveling alone, I experienced many difficulties and even threatening situations.

But soon, I found myself in a fascinating world full of architecture and art so stunningly beautiful that I could not take my eyes off of it;

What I found in Iran seemed different from everything else I had seen before: It was a world full of beauty, art and poetry, where old persian poets are still worshipped, and where people actually enjoy reciting poetry on every occasion.

A world full of magic and inspiration, full of mystery and beauty, inhabited by the most hospitable and refined people I had ever met. It was something I could not have imagined actually existed before. It was a world that profoundly touched me.

There was inspiration everywhere. I sketched in tea houses, in rose gardens, in mosques, in courtyards, on bazaars, sitting on the kitchen floors of new friends.

And while the story of my journey evolved in my sketchbook, I was fascinated with how much interest my book aroused amongst the people I met there, how they carefully leafed through it, how thoroughly they studied every single page, and how thoughtfully they commented on it, and the enthusiasm with which they told other people about it, and how delighted they were when they finally became part of the book themselves.

It was kind of a singular experience. My book became everybody’s book. It went through so many hands, connected me with so many people, and this is one of the most beautiful memories I have about Iran. This is why it makes sense for me to make art.

I continued to sketch about my journey when I moved on to India, finding plenty of new inspiration between the jungle and the sea.

first edition Bucher Verlag (Austria)

hardcover

20 x 29,5 cm

152 Pages

ISBN 978-3-99018-363-2

Language: english / german